---
---
Chapter One: The Neighbor
The first time I saw him, he was standing in front of the apartment building across the street, a cigarette dangling between his fingers, the smoke curling like secrets.
Dante Moretti. My new neighbor.
I didn't know his name then, but I felt his eyes on me. Dark. Dangerous. They lingered a little too long as I fumbled with the strap of my backpack, my college books spilling onto the sidewalk.
"Need a hand?" His voice was low, smooth, the kind of sound that makes your chest tighten.
I should've said no. I should've kept walking. But something in me froze when he bent down, his fingers brushing mine as he picked up my book. His touch was warm, but his gaze? Cold fire.
> "You should be more careful, Isolde," he murmured, lips tugging into a smirk. "A girl like you shouldn't be wandering around without someone watching her back."
I didn't know if it was a warning… or a promise.
---
That night, my aunt Selina came over. Red lipstick smeared across a mouth that had seen too much, legs crossed like she owned the room. She worked nights, and everyone knew what kind of nights they were.
When I mentioned the new neighbor, she froze. Her eyes narrowed like knives.
"Stay away from him, Isolde."
I blinked. "Why? You don't even know him."
"Oh, I know his kind." Her laugh was bitter, hollow. "Men like him, they don't fall in love. They consume. And when they're done, they leave you in pieces."
But how do you explain to someone that you already feel consumed—just from a stare, just from one fleeting touch?
---
The days blurred into nights. He started appearing everywhere—on the stairs, at the mailbox, in the dim hallway when the lights flickered. Always calm. Always unreadable.
And then one evening, he leaned against his black car outside, waiting.
"Get in. I'll take you home."
"Why?" My voice cracked, but I didn't move.
His smile was slow, dangerous.
"Because I don't like the thought of anyone else doing it."
My heart shouldn't have raced. But it did.
---
I didn't know then that every second with him was pulling me deeper into a world I wasn't ready for. A world of guns, betrayal, and scars you couldn't see.
A world where love burned just as much as it healed.
And I didn't know that the people I trusted most—my best friend, my father—were already sharpening the knives meant for my back.
What I didn't expect was a lonely , poor teenager like me , could meet up with a new neighbor that would change my life.
-